II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1423

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to exclude from income $40,000

of the salary of certain teachers who teach in high-poverty schools.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JULY 22, 1999

Mr. SCHUMER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on Finance

A BILL

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to exclude

from income $40,000 of the salary of certain teachers

who teach in high-poverty schools.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Teacher Tax Relief

5 Act of 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. EXCLUSION FROM GROSS INCOME OF WAGES OF

7 CERTAIN TEACHERS IN HIGH-POVERTY

8 SCHOOLS.

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part III of subchapter B of chap10 ter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to
2

•S 1423 IS

1 items specifically excluded from gross income) is amended

2 by redesignating section 138 as section 139 and by insert3 ing after section 137 the following new section:

4 ‘‘SEC. 138. WAGES OF TEACHERS IN HIGH-POVERTY

5 SCHOOLS.

6 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Gross income does not include

7 amounts received as wages by a qualified teacher employed

8 at a high-poverty school.

9 ‘‘(b) LIMITATIONS.—

10 ‘‘(1) AMOUNT OF EXCLUSION.—The amount ex11 cluded under subsection (a) for any taxable year

12 shall not exceed $40,000.

13 ‘‘(2) ADJUSTED GROSS INCOME.—The exclusion

14 under subsection (a) shall not apply to any taxpayer

15 whose adjusted gross income for the taxable year ex16 ceeds $120,000.

17 ‘‘(c) QUALIFIED TEACHER DEFINED.—For purposes

18 of this section—

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘qualified teach20 er’ means an academic teacher, a special education

21 teacher, or a bilingual teacher. The term does not

22 include an individual teaching under an emergency

23 or other provisional status in which any State teach24 ing qualification or licensing criteria have been

25 waived.
3

•S 1423 IS

1 ‘‘(2) ACADEMIC TEACHER.—The term ‘aca2 demic teacher’ means an individual who meets all of

3 the following criteria:

4 ‘‘(A) The teacher has performed at a high

5 level on academic subject matter tests, or has a

6 bachelor’s degree or higher with an academic

7 major in each of the subjects taught by the

8 teacher.

9 ‘‘(B) The principal of the school where the

10 teacher is assigned asserts that the teacher is

11 qualified to provide instruction in each aca12 demic course and in each grade level taught at

13 the school.

14 ‘‘(C) In the case of a teacher of students

15 in elementary school, the teacher must have

16 demonstrated the teaching skill and general

17 subject matter knowledge required to teach ef18 fectively in reading, writing, mathematics, social

19 studies, science, and other elements of a liberal

20 arts education.

21 ‘‘(D) In the case of a teacher of students

22 in middle school or secondary school, the teach23 er must have demonstrated a high level of

24 teaching skill and subject matter knowledge in

25 all of the subject areas that they teach.
4

•S 1423 IS

1 ‘‘(d) OTHER DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this

2 section—

3 ‘‘(1) ACADEMIC SUBJECTS.—The term ‘aca4 demic subjects’ includes English, language arts, so5 cial studies, history, mathematics, science, and re6 lated subjects.

7 ‘‘(2) HIGH-POVERTY SCHOOL.—The term ‘high8 poverty school’ means a school in which at least 50

9 percent of the students attending such school are eli10 gible for free or reduced-cost lunches under the

11 school lunch program established under the National

12 School Lunch Act.

13 ‘‘(3) SCHOOL.—The term ‘school’ means any

14 public school which provides elementary education or

15 secondary education (through grade 12), as deter16 mined under State law.

17 ‘‘(4) WAGES.—The term ‘wages’ has the mean18 ing provided by section 3401(a).’’.

19 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections

20 for part III of subchapter B of chapter 1 of such Code

21 is amended by striking the item relating to section 139

22 and inserting the following:

‘‘Sec. 138. Wages of teachers in high-poverty schools.

‘‘Sec. 139. Cross references to other Acts.’’.
5

•S 1423 IS

1 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

2 this section shall apply to amounts received in taxable

3 years beginning after December 31, 1999.

Æ